(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile mail system and an electronic mail system.
The facsimile communication is widely used in the field of business. In addition, recently, personal computer communication systems are also used in the business field. The electronic mail system is provided as one of various services of the personal computer communication system.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The conventional facsimile mail systems have the following problems.
(a) Operations of command inputs for transmission and reception of information, registration or deletion a message in a message board, and input of other information such as an address number, from the subscriber, are carried out manually by using push buttons of a facsimile terminal. Therefore, an error is likely to occur in the input operation by the subscriber. PA1 (b) Since the above input operation of each command or information is carried out in response to an instruction, the operation is very bothersome, and such a bothersome operation may cause an error. PA1 (c) The sender-Bide user cannot be informed of whether or not information has been received in the receiver-side user because the facsimile terminal returns no signal indicating completion of the reception to a facsimile mail center. PA1 (d) When a subscriber receives a message in a mailbox for the subscriber in the facsimile mail center, or a message on the facsimile message board in the facsimile mail center, the subscriber cannot know what information is included in the message before the reception of the message is completed. PA1 (e) The facsimile mail cannot be received anytime the receiver-side subscriber wishes to receive it. PA1 (f) Conventionally, a facsimile delivery service is provided in electronic mail systems whereby a message transmitted from a sender-side subscriber as an electronic mail can be delivered to a receiver-side subscriber as facsimile information. However, a format of facsimile information delivered by the facsimile delivery service is deformed since information on tile sender-side subscriber, a date, a title, or the like, is inserted on the top of a sheet on which the received facsimile information is printed, and accordingly the beginning of the message is shifted lower in the sheet. This may make the use of the sheet in a formal situation difficult. PA1 (g) Although additional information such as a comment from the sender-side subscriber to the receiver-side subscriber, an address of the sender-side subscriber, or the like, can be indicated on a cover sheet of facsimile information, this is impossible in the electronic mail system.
The conventional electronic mail systems have the following problems.